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Tsuyoshi Tadase is a curious dichotomy. At first glance, he looks like a bookish nerd with all the courage and strength of a wet noodle. He's small and bespectacled, with a tendency to attract bullies like lanterns attract moths. On the other hand, he has an unorthodox reputation as a very good fighter. Over the years, he's taught himself to fight to defend himself from bullies and other assorted jerks, learning how to dish out what he'd had to take. Somewhere along the line it transitioned from earnest defense to a kind of twisted enjoyment — and the gentle scholar struggles intensely with the brutal warrior that hides within. As a student, he attends St. Hermelin High and works in the campus library, but he's known to frequent just about any bookstore found in Lunarvale and beyond. Fresh material is always enough to lure him long distances, be it something to expand his mind, or some fun and mindless fiction.

History

Tsuyoshi Tadase was born to a small family in Lunarvale. He was an only child, enjoying an ordinary childhood. His father was a bit of a science fiction nerd, and by "a bit" we mean "probably the nerdiest nerd to walk the earth or at least Lunarvale."

Smart and perceptive, Tsuyoshi enjyoed reading more than anything else. His parents thought he'd go far academically, so it was encouraged. This and his prominent glasses attracted bullies — so over time he learned to defend himself. He got good at showing them that even rabbits fight back when cornered. Though never initiating anything, Tsuyoshi started a reputation for fighting. Small and quick, it was easy for him to use his opponents' strength against them, mostly to make sure he didn't get turned into Tsuyoshi-flavoured paste.

A year or so before enrolling into St. Hermelin, Tsuyoshi found a broken-winged raven flopping around near his house. He took pity on the creature and took it in, learning how to care for it by reading a lot of books and asking a lot of questions. Winding up with a rather unique pet in the process, Tsuyoshi spent time patiently training the bird, such as teaching the damned thing to stop biting him. Out of mild spite he named the thing "Trouble" for its habit of... well, living up to its namesake.

Once old enough to enroll at St. Hermelin, it seemed Tsuyoshi might leave his fighting tendencies behind. He didn't, getting into another fight two days in. He performed well academically, with exceptional grades and a true drive to succeed. He took a job on the campus library, doing well with his broad and deep base of knowledge.

When the phenomenon of the "Persona Game" reached him, he decided to give it a try, drawn more by curiosity than anything else. He was a little disappointed at the immediate results, but that night, he dreamed of a man in a butterfly mask who asked him his name. Tsuyoshi answered truthfully. From then on, life wouldn't be quite the same for him.

Through a lot of research and a lot of poking about, he found his way to the Darkside of Sumeru. Entranced with the idea that he could help people by sticking his nose in others' business, Tsuyoshi resolved to do what he could to provide information for them and to help in any way he could.

Notable Social Links

0. The Fool

I. The Magician

III. The Empress

IV. The Emperor

V. The Hierophant

VI. The Lovers

VII. The Chariot

VIII. Justice

IX. The Hermit

X. The Wheel of Fortune

XI. Strength

Yoh Yamagatani: Tsuyoshi met Yoh while reading in the garden of Sun Mall. Yoh's a nice enough lad, though Tsuyoshi's first impression of him is a little skewed — Yoh had come straight from a costume contest. He thinks that Yoh's a nice enough sort. Yoh is fascinated by Trouble, a fact that amuses Tsuyoshi, and he seems to share Tsuyoshi's hobby of reading — or at least reacted favourably to his stack of reading material. Yoh's pet cat is also adorable, in a morbidly obese sort of way, and Tsuyoshi isn't particularly afraid of it trying to eat his raven.

XII. The Hanged Man

XIII. Death

XVI. Temperance

XV. The Devil

XVI. The Tower

XVII. The Star

XVIII. The Moon

Kaede Fujioka: Tsuyoshi met this strange girl by bumping into her in the train station one night after missing his train and having to wait to go home. Her evident tendencies towards fantasy rankle his practical sensibilities on some level, and she can be a little offputting in her straightforwardness... but from all that he's seen, she's nice enough, and they share a hobby of rummaging through bookstores.

XIX. The Sun

XX. Judgment

XXI. The World

Persona

"I am thou... thou art I. I am Róta, chooser of the slain. With me, you shall balance the line bewteen wisdom and war."

Róta is Tsuyoshi's Persona, a valkyrie mentioned in the Gylfaginning book of the Prose Edda. As one of the valkyrie, Róta is by turns a cupbearer to Odin in the halls of Valhalla, or a fearsome chooser of the slain on the battlefield in host with her sister-valkyries.

Valkyries would ride above the battlefields of the ancient North, choosing the spirits of the bravest and fiercest warriors to ascend to Valhalla. There they would battle every day and feast every night, awaiting Ragnarok, the final battle between the gods.

In spite of being a female Persona to a male "host," Róta nonetheless represents the warrior spirit that burns within Tsuyoshi. As Odin's cupbearer, she represents his more peaceable side as well. Róta also represents his love of fierce weather and challenging adversity — what better, than one of the spirits purported to inhabit the harsh, frozen northlands?

Róta is not a delicate attacker. She moves with a decisiveness that could be misconstrued as cold or cruel, as though confident that when she is summoned to the attack, she is absolutely confident in her target. There is no question about it — she represents Tsuyoshi's inner warrior, which after years of being pounded into paste by bullies, has honed itself into a right proper howling berserker. Róta represents this. When called, she moves with all the brutal confidence that he might display in the middle of a heated fight.

Miscellany

Character Trivia

Tsuyoshi's middle name is "Tiberius," named after Exactly Who You Think It Is. His dad is a huge Star Trek nerd. Tsuyoshi hates this name, and with the exception of his father, he has a tendency to indiscriminately punch people who call him by it.

Though he rarely carries the bird to school, Tsuyoshi does carry Trouble around when he's off the proverbial clock. Trouble can't fly, so he gets around by clinging to Tsuyoshi's shoulder.

Tsuyoshi isn't a "dog person" or a "cat person," being fairly ambivalent. (He is, however, a "raven person!")

With those big round glasses, Tsuyoshi's blind as a bat without them.

Tsuyoshi is a member of St. Hermelin's Calligraphy Club, Literature Club, and Occult Club.

At present, Tsuyoshi is running for Student Treasurer of St. Hermelin High.